learning disability
describes a child who has difficulty understanding or using spoken or written language or doing mathematics; problem is not primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, intellectual disability, emotional disorders, or due to environment
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
a disability in which children consistently show one or more of the following characteristics: 1) inattention, 2) hyperactivity, 3) impulsivity
referral bias
boys are more likely than girls to be referred by teachers for treatment because of troublesome behavior
dyslexia
category reserved for individuals who have a severe impairment in their ability to read and spell
dysgraphia
a learning disability that involves difficult in handwriting; children may write very slowly, writing products may be virtually illegible, and they may make numerous spelling errors because of their inability to match up sounds and letters
dyscalculia
a learning disability that involves difficulty in math computation; developmental arithmetic disorder
autism spectrum disorders
also called pervasive developmental disorders; range from the severe disorder labeled autistic disorder to the milder Asperger syndrome; characterized by problems in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors
individualized education plan (IEP)
a written statement that spells out a program tailored to a child with a disability
least restrictive environment (LRE)
the concept that a child with a disability should be educated in a setting that is as similar as possible to the one in which children who do not have a disability are educated
inclusion
educating a child who requires special education full-time in the regular classroom
concrete operational stage
Piaget's stage lasting from approximately 7-11 years old; children can perform concrete operations and reason logically as long as reasoning can be applied to specific or concrete examples
concrete operations
operations (mental actions that are reversible) that are applied to real, concrete objects
seriation
the concrete operation that involves ordering stimuli along a quantitative dimension (such as length)
transivity
the ability to logically combine relations to understand certain conclusions
neo-Piagetians
developmentalists who have elaborated on Piaget's theory, giving more emphasis to how children use attention, memory, and strategies to process information
long-term memory
a relatively permanent type of memory that holds huge amounts of information for a long period of time
strategies
consist of deliberate mental activities to improve the processing of information
elaboration
an important strategy that involves engaging in more extensive processing of information
experts
people who have acquired extensive knowledge about a particular content area, which influences what they notice and how they organize, represent, and interpret information; also influences their ability to remember, reason, and solve problems
fuzzy trace theory
theory stating that memory is best understood by considering two types of memory representations: 1) verbatim memory trace and 2) gist; older children's better memory is attributed to the fuzzy traces created by extracting the gist of information
verbatim memory trace
consists of the precise details of the information in the fuzzy trace theory
gist
refers to the central idea of the information in the fuzzy trace theory; when gist is used, fuzzy traces are built up
thinking
manipulating and transforming information in memory
critical thinking
thinking reflectively and productively, as well as evaluating the evidence
creative thinking
the ability to think in novel and unusual ways and to come up with unique solutions to problems
convergent thinking
the type of thinking that produces one correct answer and is typically assessed by standardized intelligence tests
divergent thinking
thinking that produces many answers to the same question and is characteristic of creativity
metacognition
cognition about cognition, or knowing about knowing
self-control/inhibition, working memory, flexibility
dimensions of executive functioning that are the most important for 4-11 year old children't cognitive development and success in school as concluded by Diamond and Lee
intelligence
problem-solving skills and the ability to learn from, and adapt to, the experiences of everyday life
individual differences
the stable, consistent ways in which people differ from each other
mental age (MA)
Binet's measure of an individual's level of mental development, compared with that of others
intelligence quotient (IQ)
a person's mental age divided by chronological age and multiplied by 100
normal distribution
a symmetrical distribution with most scores falling in the middle of the possible range of scores and few scores appearing toward the extremes of the range
Wechsler scales
set of tests for different age groups widely used to assess students' intelligence; developed by psychologist David Wechsler; includes several composite indexes that help to identify in which areas a child is strong or weak
triarchic theory of intelligence
Sternberg's theory that intelligence consists of analytical intelligence, creative intelligence, and practical intelligence
Verbal
the ability to think in words and use language to express meaning
Mathematical
the ability to carry out mathematical operations
Spatial
the ability to think three-dimensionally
Bodily-kinesthetic
the ability to manipulate objects and be physically adept
Musical
a sensitivity to pitch, melody, rhythm, and tone
Interpersonal
the ability to understand and interact effectively with others
Intrapersonal
the ability to understand oneself
Naturalist
the ability to observe patterns in nature and understand natural and human-made systems
Gardner's Eight Frames of Mind
eight types of intelligence, or frames of mind, suggested by Gardner; everyone has all types in varying degrees, which causes people to prefer to learn and process information in specific ways and learn best in a way that uses their stronger intelligences
culture-fair tests
tests of intelligence that are designed to be free of cultural bias
intellectual disability
a condition of limited mental ability in which an individual has a low IQ, usually below 70 on a traditional test of intelligence, and has difficulty adapting to everyday life
Flynn effect
worldwide increase in intelligence test scores that has occurred over a short time frame; discovered by James Flynn
culture-reduced tests
the only types of tests that can be created due to the difficulties in creating culture-fair tests (therefore, culture-fair tests do not actually exist)
organic intellectual disability
intellectual disability that involves some physical damage and is caused by a genetic disorder or brain damage
cultural-familial intellectual disability
intellectual disability that is characterized by no evidence of organic brain damage, but the individual's IQ generally is between 50 and 70
gifted
having above-average intelligence (an IQ of 130 or higher) and/or superior talent for something; characterized by precocity, "marching to a different drummer", and a passion to master
alphabetic principle
the principle that the letters of the alphabet represent sounds of the language
metalinguistic awareness
refers to knowledge about language, such as knowing what a preposition is or being able to discuss the sounds of a language
whole-language approach
an approach to reading instruction based on the idea that instruction should parallel children's natural language learning; reading materials should be whole and meaningful
phonics approach
the idea that reading instruction should teach the basic rules for translating written symbols into sounds
fluent
description of reading ability as the processing of words and passages becomes more automatic